Jaw all healed, Saginaw Spirit's Barry Sanderson is a glad to be back on the ice

The Spirit's Barry Sanderson is chased by the Plymouth Whalers during a game last fall.

For Barry Sanderson, sitting at home for seven weeks last spring with a broken jaw was painful enough.

But on top of that, the Saginaw Spirit forward had to do it knowing his teammates were going through a successful run in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs, into the second round for the first time in franchise history.

“Seven weeks of doing nothing was pretty painful,” Sanderson said. “Especially watching the boys win the first series and make history for this organization.”

A week after he left Saginaw following the end of the season, Sanderson got a call from his surgeon giving him the green light to take the ice again. So he spent the summer working on his strength and speed, determined to come back to Saginaw and produce more in his second year with the Spirit.

It didn’t take long. In the Spirit’s season opener at Guelph, Sanderson notched two goals, the second multi-goal game of his career. The next night, he added another goal at Owen Sound.

A month later, Sanderson continues to put up numbers for the Spirit. Through eleven games this year, Sanderson has already notched five goals and three assists.

The Saginaw Spirit opened their weekend last night with a game at Peterborough. For results of that game and from tonight’s game against Kingston, see mlive.com/spirit. The Spirit round out the weekend with a Sunday game at Ottawa.

Sanderson has a chance this weekend to equal his goal total from last year (six). Looking back on his first year in Saginaw, Sanderson will admit it wasn’t the most productive year for him.

“Getting traded here was kind of different for me,” Sanderson said. “I’m not making excuses, but I had a down year. I think it’s just my fourth year, I matured a lot and I’m trying to help out the younger guys and be a leader on this team.”

This season marked the first that Sanderson returned to the same OHL franchise for the second year in a row. For head coach Todd Watson, Sanderson’s production for this season is what he had expected originally when he executed a trade for him just before last season.

“When we got Barry last year, we thought he would do what he’s doing this year,” Spirit head coach Todd Watson said. “It took a little time for him to get on track.”

And playing in Saginaw has an added benefit for Sanderson. Sanderson is a Dearborn native, meaning he can play his home games far closer to home than before, when he played in Niagara and Mississauga.

“It’s always a bonus being closer to home, relatives and everything coming to all the games,” Sanderson said. “It’s really nice to see.”

At 5-feet-9, 179 pounds, he’s not the biggest player on the ice, but is known for not backing down.

“For a little guy, he’s very scrappy,” forward Jordan Szwarz said. “A tough kid. He likes to stick up for his teammates.”

It’s still early in the season, but a good start means plenty at this point for Sanderson.

“So far it’s been a good success,” Sanderson said. “A lot of work during the summer after my broken jaw and it feels good to start off the season well.”